“My heart is drawn there where my God is hidden, Where He dwells with us day and night, Clothed in the White Host;
He governs the whole world, He communes with souls. My heart is drawn there where my God is hiding, Where His love is immolated. But my heart senses that the living water is here; It is my living God, though a veil hides Him.” Divine Mercy in my soul # 1591
Why would the God of the universe want to hide Himself? Wouldn’t you think it would be so much easier if He just showed Himself? Maybe, maybe not.
I believe God does make Himself known, seen and heard. Not just to great prophets and visionaries and saintly people, but to each and every one of us. The problem for us to see Him is multi-fold.
First, we live in a world of distractions. The world ruler spins everything in a way to distract our souls from God. He makes us so busy, we have no time for God. He makes work so stressful, we can’t think of God. He builds events into our Sunday holy day that draws our eyes and hearts from God. He has thrown Covid into the mix to separate us from fellow Catholics and from the Sacraments. News media draws us to the lower faculties of our brain so we can’t aspire for sanctity but instead draw upon anger.
Then, we have a constant noise about us. The TV blares in most homes nearly non-stop, news media rages and the internet draw eyes to the evils of pornography. The noise continues into the mind itself. We are so stressed both at work and in our personal lives that we can’t find quiet even in our own thoughts. Even when we try to find time to pray, our mind is drawn to other thoughts and worries.
God is there even in all the stresses of life. He is especially present in our lives when darkness descends upon us.
The main point of “I knew His Voice” (available at I Knew His Voice… https://www.amazon.com/dp/1514713543/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fabc_XybYFbGDM0MMD) is that Jesus is present and active in today’s world and in our lives. Jesus was there for my daughter in her darkest moments. He made Himself known to me as He spoke to me and consoled me in my fears. He was there in the dark night in the ICU when the terrors of night were threatening to overwhelm me.
Beyond the points noted above, why then doesn’t Jesus make His Presence known more clearly to all? I think it is to draw hearts to Him by their choice, through faith. By our dependence upon faith, we become mightier than if He stood before all.
Make no mistake though, sometime in the not so distant future, Jesus will remove the blinders and make Himself known to all. On that day, whether in the Illumination of Conscience or I the second coming, we will all see God before our very eyes.
He gives us this season of Advent, followed by Christmas to make ourselves ready. I feel that His desire this season is that all hearts may shut off distractions, offer up stress and fears and train themselves to focus upon seeing and hearing His Voice in our lives. So, when we approach His Manger, we will look upon Jesus and say, “I know You” and hear His joyful voice say back, “yes, I know you as well.”